platonic love

Meanings

1. Intimate but non-sexual and non-romantic affection.

1. Alternative letter-case form of platonic love.

Etymology

Attested 1636 in Platonic Lovers by William Davenant. Earlier coined in Latin in the 15th century as amor platōnicus by Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino (originally in 1476 letter to Alamanno Donati, later expounded in De amore (1484)), based on his interpretation of the Symposium by Plato, specifically the speech by Socrates, relating the thoughts of Diotima of Mantinea.